It's the Little Rebellions That Count
by electric gurrl
Summary: Ty Lee wants to throw out an old piece of furniture. Azula's opinion differs. Oneshot. Established Tyzula. Mentioned Ozai/Azula.


A/N: Warning: Implications of rape and child abuse. A little bit on the disturbing side of Tyzula._  
_

* * *

"It's the little rebellions that count," Azula remarks to her daughter, much to the dismay of her wife.

Azusami is oppositional, mature, polite when it serves her, and wants to be treated like an adult. And if anyone dares discipline her, they are in for nightmarish tantrums and dangerous revenge. Azusami also happens to be three, and would probably be easier to manage if her mother did not encourage the awful behavior.

"I think you've told that to me before..." Ty Lee squints her eyes, making a familiar expression of trying to think and coming up short. Azula tries to suppress her smirk.

"I used to say it to myself when I was younger. I probably have mentioned it aloud," Azula says casually with a small shrug. As noncommittal as ever. At least it was not a snarky and bitter response.

Ty Lee seizes Azusami, frustrated with Azula's enabling. "You are going to wear this crown and you're going to like it." Somehow, Ty Lee's tone darkens by several decibels.

They have been trying to get their daughter to wear her crown for an hour now, and it is going as well as trying to force their daughter to do anything is. She runs around, cries, tries to argue ─ arguments that tongue-tie Ty Lee, but Azula has quick and clever responses to ─ and is genuinely opposed to giving up her loose locks.

"She'll burn her hair off at some point and start wearing it up," Azula says calmly, as if her daughter's hair being set ablaze is a natural part of child development. Ty Lee bites her lip and tries to remain optimistic. "I used to fight my mother every time she tried to brush _my _hair."

Azula is gazing intently at the armoire in the corner. Ty Lee claimed it years ago, as Azula was only allowing it to gather dust, and shoved even nice robes and gowns into an archaic dresser. Ty Lee never learned why Azula hated the armoire so much, and most of the time, she avoids looking at it, but refuses to get rid of it.

There are a lot of things Ty Lee does not ask about, and simply smiles and nods.

It is easier that way, with Azula.

_"Do I have to ask for a written report or are you going to spit it out? Is he dead or not?" is the first thing Azula hears when she arrives in the throne room, shaking like a leaf. Her first failure. At least last time she went after Zuko they were interrupted to head the drill project. At least when she failed at killing the Avatar she had Zuko to blame. This... there is no excuse._

_ "He's not," Azula says, her words small, her purring tone missing. She wraps her arms around herself, the embrace of a lonely child. The flames grow, momentarily blinding Azula with red. Her pallid skin is flushed. "I tried, father, I.." He silences her with one glance._

_ "I told you not to return until Zuko was dead. Why are you back if he isn't dead? You're a clever girl, Azula. I expect better." The flames are dangerously out of control. He must be livid in ways that Azula has never witnessed. _

_ "Ty Lee and─"_

_ "If I ever hear that circus freak's name again, I will personally execute her."_

_ Azula clamps her mouth shut. It is not like he cares that the only people who trusted betrayed her. She would be kidding herself if she thought he cared that she locked herself in her room in the airship and silently cried for hours with her knees touching her chin, like some kind of weakling._

_ All that mattered was the task, not the carnage that came with it._

_ "I followed him to the Western Air Temple but... he escaped."_

_ "Is he with the Avatar or not?" Ozai asks, ignoring Azula's attempt at justifying herself. She knew it would fail._

_ "He is, father." Eyes fixated on the stone floor. The room must be over a hundred degrees and she is sweating, her insides twisting._

_ "Just go to your room."_

_ In the mouth of any other father, it would be different._

"We should get rid of this," Ty Lee says, pointing at the armoire Azula is opening.

"Of all of the useless buyer's remorse you keep in here?" Azula holds up two identical headbands and Ty Lee's cheeks turn pink. "We should do that."

"I mean the armoire. It doesn't even match the room. It's not the one you had when we were kids or anything. Why is it so important?" Ty Lee hopes she does not say something to set Azula off.

But Azula glances at something invisible on the floor, and then quickly looks away. Ty Lee examines her closely. Her face revealed... emotion?

"Did somebody special give you that armoire?" Ty Lee crawls to the foot of the bed, coming closer to Azula. Azula smirks and scoffs almost simultaneously, as if Ty Lee has said something very funny that she does not comprehend. Like when she used to call elbows arm-knees and Azula and Mai did not correct her.

"You could say that," Azula purrs, slipping onto the bed. She has Ty Lee in her grasp, by the arms. Oddly, she feels as if the armoire is staring at her as she unhooks her wife's bra.

Azula stops breathing momentarily as Ty Lee has run her fingers towards Azula's underwear, and is about to move to slip the red silk fabric in half. She swallows and Ty Lee notices, but Azula acts as if it did not happen, allowing Ty Lee to complete the action, and slipping her fingertips around slightly. Familiar contours of two flawless bodies, both madly and irrevocably in lust.

Lying on her back, toes curled, Azula's thoughts spin away from eroticism. But she does not stop Ty Lee.

_"I shouldn't care so much," Azula murmurs, staring at the floor. _

_ "It's that whore," he says, touching Azula's neck. It is a threat, not a motion of comfort. "You fell for her. What else did you do with her beyond that night?"_

_ "Nothing, father─"_

_ He grabs her chin, fingers digging into her face. She does not show pain as he forces her to make eye contact._

_ "Don't you dare lie to me, Azula," he growls and Azula inhales sharply. She finds it hard to breathe and hard to control herself._

_ "We were together. I was with her. And we-we slept together twice." The words tumble out of her lips, alien and not hers. He lets go of her and she starts running. She knows it is ridiculous, and she knows she will suffer, but she runs to her room, skidding through the palace. _

_ She shuts and locks the door. And as an afterthought, grabs the armoire and pushes it across the floor. It hurts her arms; it is heavy for her. It scrapes across the floor as she presses it against the door. It leaves scratch marks on the wood._

"Can I throw out the armoire?" Ty Lee asks as they lie in bed.

"Not very sexy pillow talk," Azula breathes scathingly. "You can throw it out or burn it or whatever you want. It's not like a hunk of wood matters to me."

Ty Lee purses her lips. It clearly _does _matter to Azula, but the princess is never going to reveal an emotional attachment to anything. She barely expresses her attachment to her wife of five years. She can be, in fact, deliberately antagonistic and unforgiving. They've been together for half a decade and Ty Lee sometimes wonders why she even stays.

"You want to know why I don't want to get rid of it?" Azula asks, standing up. She pulls a nightgown over her body as she walks to it, soft red fabric caressing her cleavage. "You'll particularly enjoy the story of this armoire, Ty Lee, because it's about you."

Ty Lee already does not like where this is going. Azula stands beside the armoire, touching it in an overtly sexual manner. Ty Lee contemplates just apologizing and going to sleep, but she supposes she is going to have to hear about it.

"This armoire was one of those little rebellions that count," Azula says, still stroking the handle. "I had another one most of my life. The one that matched Zuko's. But when I came back from the Broiling Rock that _beautiful _day when you decided to betray me, my father was livid. He told me not to return until Zuko was dead, but I let him get away. I probably should have pursued him... But I was rather devastated about you leaving."

"You don't have to tell me this." _Please don't tell me this._

"I _want _to, _love_. Well, I walked into the throne room and he was angry and shouted, of course. But he was not most upset about me failing to capture Zuko; he was most upset about you. He forced that we had been together out of me. And I was stupid; I started running. I pushed my armoire in front of the door." Pause. "I had pushed things in front of it before in vain, you know, little rebellions. But I always removed them before he would come because I wanted to be Fire Lord and I supposed I had to make sacrifices."

"I'm sorry, Azula," Ty Lee says, hoping she can just go to sleep now. But that is not the case; she set her wife off.

"I didn't move the armoire. He burnt it. He burnt it with all of my things inside. Burnt the door with it. This was after he had the lock removed ─ another little rebellion of mine." Azula purses her lips slightly, looking amused by Ty Lee's pale face and twisting stomach. "I didn't fight him, even though that was the only time I considered just killing him and taking the throne. But he acted like I was fighting him, all because I pushed a piece of furniture in his way. I was bleeding by the end and my neck was covered in bruises. I think he _actually _felt bad when he could see the marks and the blood on my thighs. He always seemed to enjoy it before, but not that time."

"Please stop," but Ty Lee goes unheard.

"The next morning, he bought me an entirely new wardrobe, new trinkets, new armoire. This one." Azula gestures to it. "As some symbol of compassion. I should have gotten rid of it by now in my time as Zuko's little ward. It probably would be _cohesive to my recovery_. But I simply can't. We can re-stain the floor and paint the walls and put up pictures that aren't of maps and Fire Lords past. But I'm never getting rid of this armoire."

She returns to bed as if nothing happened. Her pointed fingernails dig into Ty Lee's hand as she intertwines their fingers. Slight smirk on her lips. Slight tears in her eyes.

Although the room is hot and Azula is hotter, Ty Lee feels cold.

* * *

"It's the little rebellions that count," Azula remarks to her daughter. She smiles at the way Azusami dodges Zuko as he tries to stop she and Zirah from destroying the house in their game. "Right, ZuZu?"

He seems to understand it and Ty Lee wonders why.

"Finally, you say something I can agree with," Zuko says, grabbing Zirah by the waist and picking her up. Azusami takes the chance to run away.

Ty Lee looks between the siblings.

She feels very cold again.

She walks after her daughter, to try to help Zuko.

_It's the little rebellions that count._


End file.
